Oneworld scoops 'powerful' second novel from Adzo Medie 

Oneworld has acquired the second novel from Peace Adzo Medie, Nightbloom, described as “ a powerful story about a longstanding friendship.”

Juliet Mabey, publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights plus audio from Kendra Poster at Algonquin, on behalf of primary agent Kiele Raymond at Thompson Literary. The novel will be published in July 2023 as a superlead title on Oneworld’s literary fiction imprint.

Adzo Medie’s debut novel, His Only Wife, was a Reese’s Book Club pick and an Observer, Time Magazine and New York Times Book of the Year 2020. Once again set in Ghana, Nightbloom opens in the 1980s when cousins Selasi and Akorfa are growing up side by side.

The publisher’s synopsis goes on: “The girls are inseparable despite their very different personalities, but as they enter their teens Selasi pushes everyone away, even Akorfa. It will be years before their paths cross again. When Akorfa learns what happened to her friend, they must work together to confront the secrets that Selasi has worked so hard to bury, and challenge those who would prefer them to remain silent.”

Mabey said: “It’s such a pleasure to continue our work with Peace, whose second novel has the same phenomenal atmosphere, warmth and sparkling wit that won over fans of His Only Wife. Nightbloom is a powerful story about a longstanding friendship that takes a keen-eyed look at family, class and discrimination in Ghana. We can’t wait to introduce readers to Selasi and Akorfa.”

Peace Adzo Medie is a senior lecturer in Gender and International Politics at the University of Bristol, researching gender, politics and conflict in Africa. She has won numerous awards for her scholarship and has held several fellowships, including the Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Fellowship. Born in Liberia, she currently lives in Bristol, and will be speaking at a variety of festivals and bookshop events around publication.